Things You'll Need:
- Yoga mat
- Yoga strap
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Step 1
Start by lying on your back and tucking one hand under each knee, allowing the legs to fold over the hands. Rotate the feet away from each other two or three times and back the other direction. This action moves your ankle joints in a full range of movement. Next, place one hand on each knee and dial the knees away from each other a few times. That’s external rotation in the hip joints. Repeat, moving the knees in the other direction. Rest.
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Step 2
Use Supta Padangusthasana to further open the hips joints and hamstrings. Lie on your back with your feet flat and a hips-width distance apart. Loop a yoga strap over the right foot, holding both ends of the strap in the right hand. Flex the foot, reaching the heel towards the ceiling to straighten the leg. Contract the quadriceps (muscles on the front of the thigh) so the knee joint is stabilized. Remain for five to eight breaths. You should feel this stretch in the hamstrings (back of the thighs).
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Step 3
Dial the right big toe away from you so that the leg is still straight and the heel faces the center of the room instead of the front of the room. Keeping the quadriceps engaged, lower the leg to the right as far as the hip joint allows. Remain for 20 to 30 seconds. Lift the leg back to top and unhook the yoga strap. Repeat to the second side.
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Step 4
Lie back and cross your right ankle over the left thigh. Weave your right hand through the opening of the legs and interlace your hands behind the left thigh. Lie back so your entire spine and the back of the head are resting on the floor. In Thread the Needle, you are further opening the hip joints, hip flexors and hamstrings. Remain for 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat on the second side.
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Step 5
Sit upright, and bending both knees, bring the soles of the feet together. Flex both feet so that you are on the outer edge of the feet, pinky-toe side. You should not be pressing down on the outer ankle joints. Place your hands behind you so that the fingertips are on the floor. Lift the sternum from deep in the chest and widen the collarbones. Remain for five to eight breaths. Rest.
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Step 6
Place a folded blanket under your hips if your knees are higher than your hips when you sit in this variation of Baddha Konasana (in the step above). For Baddha Konasana A in Ashtanga Yoga, hold the feet and open them as if they were pages of a book so that the outer edges of the feet touch and the soles of the feet are exposed. Still lift the chest and bend the elbows to the side, lowering the knees and legs as close to the floor as possible. Remain for five to eight breaths.
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Step 7
Making the body rigid like a board, hinge at the hips and draw the chest forward, extending from the crown of the head as you lower the face towards your feet. This is Baddha Konasana B in Ashtanga Yoga. Remain for five to eight breaths.
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Step 8
Inhale and lift the head and chest all the way up. If your hip joints are flexible, bring your heels much closer towards the inner groin. If that creates discomfort or pain in the knees, low back or inner groin, keep the feet further away from the inner groin. Sitting upright, lift the chest and lower the chin towards the chest, bending the elbows out to the side. Remain for five to eight breaths in the final variation, Baddha Konasana C in Ashtanga Yoga. Rest by releasing the feet and straightening the legs.
